Admiral of France

Last updated
Admiral of France
Amiral de France
French Navy NG-OF10.svg France-Navy-OF-10 Sleeve.svg
Shoulder and sleeve insignia
CountryFlag of France.svg  France
Service branchCivil and Naval Ensign of France.svg  French Navy
Rank group Flag officer
NATO rank code OF-10
Formation1270
Next lower rank Admiral
Equivalent ranks Marshal of France

Admiral of France (French : Amiral de France) is a French title of honour. It is the naval equivalent of Marshal of France and was one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France.

Contents

History

The title was created in 1270 by Louis IX of France, during the Eighth Crusade. At the time, it was equivalent to the office of Constable of France. The Admiral was responsible for defending the coasts of Picardy, Normandy, Aunis, and Saintonge. In times of war, it was his responsibility to assemble French merchant ships into a navy. He had to arm, equip, and supply the ships for the course of the war, and give letters of marque to corsairs. In peacetime, he was responsible for the maintenance of the royal fleet (when one existed). He was also responsible for maritime commerce and the merchant fleet.

During the modern era, few admirals were sailors; moreover, with the exception of Claude d'Annebault, none of them actually commanded the fleet. It must be said that the actual power of the admiral was rather small, partly because of the creation of other admirals (the Admiral of the Levant for Provence, the Admiral of Brittany, and the Admiral of the West for Guyenne), and because of the creation of the General of the Galleys and the Secretary of State for the Navy.

The title, like the title of Constable, had much more political importance (which would eventually lead to the suppression of both titles). It was also a lucrative position: the admiral was allocated a part of the fines and confiscations imposed by the admiralty, and he had a right to unclaimed ships and shipwrecks as well as a tenth of the spoils taken in battle. He also had juridical rights, comparable to those exercised by the constable and the marshal. This was known as the Table de marbre, after the seat of the admiralty in Paris. A second headquarters of the admiralty was established at Rouen, and about 50 other headquarters were set up at various other places around the coast of France. These tribunals judged cases dealing with fishing disputes and any crimes committed in the country's ports.

The Admiralty was suppressed in 1627 by Cardinal Richelieu, who had been named to the newly created post of Grand Master of Navigation and who wanted to bring all naval authority under one position. The position was recreated in 1669, but was now only an honorific title. The first new admiral was Louis, Count of Vermandois, who at the time was only 2 years old. Thereafter, only Louis Alexandre, Count of Toulouse involved himself in maritime affairs.

It was suppressed once more in 1791, restored in 1805 in the person of Marshal of France Joachim Murat. Currently, the most recent Admiral of France was François Thomas Tréhouart, in 1869.

This dignity remains fully valid today as a 2005 law article recalls: "The title of Marshal of France and that of Admiral of France, is a dignity in the state." [1]

Admirals

Grand Masters of Navigation

Restoration of the title Admiral of France

Revolutionary and post-revolutionary period

July Monarchy, Second Republic and Empire

English admirals

Henry VI of England appointed two English aristocrats during the ministrations of Louis de Culant and André de Laval-Montmorency. Accordingly, they were not recognized by the Kingdom of France.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Bourbon</span> Cadet branch of the House of Capet

The House of Bourbon is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France and is a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century, and by the 18th century, members of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Today Spain and Luxembourg have monarchs of the House of Bourbon. The royal Bourbons originated in 1272, when Robert, the youngest son of King Louis IX of France, married the heiress of the lordship of Bourbon. The house continued for three centuries as a cadet branch, serving as nobles under the direct Capetian and Valois kings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshal of France</span> French military title

Marshal of France is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1793–1804) and for a period dormant (1870–1916). It was one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration, and one of the Grand Dignitaries of the Empire during the First French Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Montmorency</span> French noble family

The House of Montmorency was one of the oldest and most distinguished noble families in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">André de Laval-Montmorency</span>

André de Laval-Montmorency, seigneur de Lohéac, was a Marshal of France. He was the son of Guy XIII de Laval and Anne de Laval, and a leading member of the House of Laval.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Rohan</span> Breton noble family

The House of Rohan is a Breton family of viscounts, later dukes and princes in the French nobility, coming from the locality of Rohan in Brittany. Their line descends from the viscounts of Porhoët and is said to trace back to the legendary Conan Meriadoc. Through the Porhoët, the Rohan are related to the Dukes of Brittany, with whom the family intermingled again after its inception. During the Middle Ages, it was one of the most powerful families in the Duchy of Brittany. They developed ties with the French and English royal houses as well, and played an important role in French and European history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constable of France</span> First Officer of the Crown in France before 1789

The Constable of France was lieutenant to the King of France, the first of the original five Great Officers of the Crown and the commander-in-chief of the Royal Army. He was, at least on paper, the highest-ranking member of the French nobility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Chamberlain of France</span> Important position within the French royal court during the Ancien Régime

The Grand Chamberlain of France was one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France, a member of the Maison du Roi, and one of the Great Offices of the Maison du Roi during the Ancien Régime. It is similar in name, but should not be confused with, the office of Grand Chamberman of France, although both positions could accurately be translated by the word chamberlain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Master of France</span> Position in the royal household of the King of France

The Grand Master of France was, during the Ancien Régime and Bourbon Restoration in France, one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France and head of the "Maison du Roi", the king's royal household. The position is similar to that of Lord Steward in England.

A Colonel General was an officer of the French army during the Ancien Régime, the French Revolution, the Napoleonic era and the Bourbon Restoration.

When the Viking chieftain Rollo obtained the territories via the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte which would later make up Normandy, he distributed them as estates among his main supporters. Among these lands were the seigneurie of Harcourt, near Brionne, and the county of Pont-Audemer, both of which Rollo granted to Bernard the Dane, ancestor of the lords (seigneurs) of Harcourt. he first to use Harcourt as a name, however, was Anquetil d'Harcourt at the start of the 11th century.

Admiral Louis de Culant (1360–1444) was a French nobleman and Admiral of France. He held the titles of Baron of Châteauneuf-sur-Cher, Lord of Culant and Ainay-le-Vieil. As Lord of Culant, the Château de Culan, a medieval fortress built in the 12th-15th centuries, which overlooks the valley of the Arnon belonged to him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military governor of Paris</span> French army post

The Military governor of Paris is a post within the French Army. He commands the garrison of Paris and represents all the military based in Paris at high state occasions. He is also responsible for organizing major national ceremonies such as the Bastille Day military parade down the Champs-Élysées.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galerie des Batailles</span> Gallery in the Palace of Versailles

The Galerie des Batailles is a gallery occupying the first floor of the Aile du Midi of the Palace of Versailles, joining onto the grand and petit appartement de la reine. 120 m (390 ft) long and 13 m (43 ft) wide, it is an epigone of the grand gallery of the Louvre and was intended to glorify French military history from the Battle of Tolbiac to the Battle of Wagram.

The Counts of Dammartin were the rulers of the county of Dammartin, based in the current commune of Dammartin-en-Goële as early as the 10th century. Located at the central plain of France, the county controlled the roads of Paris to Soissons and Laon. It seems that this county was initially held by Constance, the wife of Manasses Calvus, the first Count. The name Dammartin-en-Goële comes from Domnus Martinus, the Latin name of St. Martin of Tours, who evangelized the region of Goële in the fourth century. A small town in the district of Meaux in the Department of Seine-et-Marne, ancient village of Region of Île-de-France, it appears to go back to the earliest times; Dammartin-en-Goële, also called Velly, was in 1031 one of the most significant places in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles de Montmorency, Duke of Damville</span> French noble and Admiral

Charles de Montmorency, Duke of Damville was a French aristocrat, military commander, rebel and Admiral during the French Wars of Religion. Damville was the son of Anne de Montmorency, chief favourite of Henri II and Madeleine of Savoy granting him a central place in French politics. As a result in 1562 he was elevated as lieutenant-general of the Île de France, serving under his elder brother François de Montmorency. In 1567, with the establishment of the king's brother Anjou as lieutenant-general of the French army, Méru joined his council to advise him on political matters. Méru participated in the siege of La Rochelle in 1573 under the direction of Anjou. Around this time he developed a proximity to the younger brother of the king Alençon.

Damville may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William of Montmorency</span> Father of Anne de Montmorency, Marshal of France

William of Montmorency was Baron de Montmorency and lord of Chantilly. As general of finances for the king, he was governor of several royal castles and accompanied Louis XII during the Italian War of 1494–1498.

References

  1. Article 19 of Law No. 2005-270 of 24 March 2005 on the general status of militaries
  2. Ernest Prarond, Histoire de cinq villes et de trois cents villages, hameaux et fermes, vol. 2, p. 272, 1863
  3. Froissart's Chronicles , vol. 2, 1824, p. 29
  4. Anselme de Sainte-Marie, Histoire généalogique de la maison royale de la France et des grands officiers de la couronne, p.752
  5. Musée national de Versailles, Galeries historiques du Palais de Versailles, book 7, p. 102, Imprimerie royale, 1842
  6. Le Roux 2000, p. 530.
  7. Ernest Lehr, L'Alsace noble: suivie de Le livre d'or du patriciat de Strasbourg, Volumes 1 to 3, p. 336[ ambiguous ]

Sources